Hi everyone, I'm attempting to create a special external hard disk enclosure. What makes it special is it's universal versatility in every sense of the word. Firstly, I want to be able to take any full size SATA hard drive and slip it in/out of the enclosure. Bare. I don't want to screw the drive in, nor do I want to use a tray of any kind. So, just like this:

Now, that drive caddy pictured above can fit into any 5.25" standard slot. So I'm assuming I can find an enclosure that is meant for a normal optical drive (cd/dvd/bluray) and instead of sticking in an optical drive, I slip in that thing above which will then allow me to slide in a Sata drive in and out without any extra screwing or trays. Pretty cool, right?

So then I thought, why not just use one of these universal hard drive adapter cable thingies? See below:

And I already have one of those, and they are great. However, there's something about having a bare hard drive hanging off of a cable that I find uncomfortable. So that's why i want an enclosure...but a very flexible one.

The problem I am running into is the enclosure itself. I want one that can not only support that hard drive sliding device, but I also want one that has connectors for USB, firewire, and esata all available. So finding something with all these requirements is proving rather difficult.

I have a couple of the ones pictured, one with eSata, and they work REALLY well. So well that I haven't had any problem with the drives over heating due to being plugged in and powered up all the time. Can't say the same for a traditional enclosure (I've had plenty of those drives fail, I think, due to poor air circulation).